A Study in Color
by Kureiji-Kurai
Summary: Anis Yamamoto tries to gain a better understanding of what makes her knights tick. One by one, she tests them to see what they really feel. It started out with Tenjoh and after that she had to keep moving to understand the others. Curiosity is a powerful thing in anyone but she has her reasons for needing to know these four knights. Which one does she really favor?


_A Study in White_

_=A Dirty White=_

_Takes place in volume 6 before Mutsuki's kiss and the pageant _

_Warning: Adult content as well as mild to moderate fem!dom_

* * *

Anis Yamamoto sat in her small but comfortable apartment, fuchsia eyes fixed on the four cards in her hand. Long silken hair framed her tiny body like a protective pink blanket. She held four lives in her hand, four lives tied to her own. Higa Kaede, Asagi Seiran, Tenjoh Mitsuru, and Kurama Mutsuki. Her thin brows knit together slowly as the thought weighed on her. No one really understood how heavy these cards were. Even she did not often dwell on their weight. She did not like to think of heavy things, never had. Everyone thought she was stupid but that was not really so much the case as it was that her mind did not want to take in more than she could handle. She liked things to move slowly at her own pace, and yes, she liked to control things. She wanted to control her world and the things in it.

Her lips twisted into a smile, angry laugh slipping out. Control and the desire to keep it, maybe that was why she was the Dominion! But what was so wrong with wanting control in a world that loved to throw her curves? Hate, she hated surprises even if she took those fairly well most of the time! Her ability, one she was often considered stupid for, was to simply roll with whatever came at her. Accepting things was easy enough if she did not dig too deeply into them and just stayed at the surface. She wanted to stay that way, able to adapt and never be struck down by anything. Rooting herself to things felt dangerous.

Fate was something she hated too, she thought, and never wanted to give into such a stupid thing. Destiny could be changed, she always thought so. Keeping others tied down was wrong regardless of why it was done. Not that she could talk so high and might about that considering she kept four men bound to her every wish and whim, forcing them to fight her battles. Making them risk their lives in order for her to fulfill her wish to free them... it was a ironic. She could justify it any way she wanted to- and would justify it- but it did not change the fact that she was doing what she hated most. The trouble was she did not exactly regret the choice of making them follow her wish. If all went well, they should all be free in the end.

When she honestly thought of it like this she understood her Papa a little. This was what he tried to do with her, tried to control her to keep her from entering this "punishment" world. He was right too, it was a heavy punishment. Being responsible for the lives of this many, and the futures of those that could come after them if she failed, how could something that heavy not be punishment? When her Knight's suffered she did as well but she had no way to stop it. All she could do was stay close to them.

That at least was one place she and Papa differed. She would never leave the people she was responsible for. It was her duty to protect them even if it meant risking her life, she could at least do that much. He did not need to remind her how little power she had, she already knew too well but she did what she could. What Papa risked on her behalf she did not know but he had not stayed by her side, not until he could be in the way, and then she could not be rid of him. When she needed him most all he did was give her a choker and run off to do who knew what. It was a rare time when she remembered seeing him. Even the times she did remember were a little traumatic.

Her knees curled up to her chest slowly. Oh, like that disaster that was the first time she was daring enough to wear makeup around Papa. It was only pink eye shadow, and granted, she had never done it before so it was far too dark... but she did not know at the time. She still remembered how he never let on he noticed it until much later in the day, but all day long, he would not even look at her and barely spoke to her. Thinking her rebellious choice had gone totally unseen she could not understand why he was so distant. Most times he was so much more attentive and focused on her, so much it normally worried her, but not this day. She spent the entire day, at the zoo and various other places she begged to visit days before, desperately trying to understand what she had done to make him angry. All those things she longed to do for her birthday really lost their shine but she smiled and skipped about in spite of it. Her elation over those things died even though she struggled past it with a grin on her face. Only later did he tell her the reason, voicing his_ shame_ over her deed, so indignant over it she felt she had done something filthy. So terrifyingly, silently ashamed and angry over something so simple!

Even now her heart fluttered with a sort of bitter feeling at the thought. It really should not still bother her but it did. He could not even overlook a tiny rebellion on her birthday? And they all wondered why she feared him so much! If he could shun her so totally over that, even on her birthday, how did they think she could face him when she outright defied his orders? They did not see why she was so desperate to find the choker but they did not know Papa.

The problem was, she was rebellious at heart, and always would be. It was he that triggered it in her. He smothered her, for whatever intentions, to the point it made her long to defy him. If he was going to be angry with her she might as well give him reason to be even if she herself regretted it later. That was the way she was. Maybe he wanted to protect her but she hated being tied down, hated being given collar and expected to "sit" and "stay" for everyone. Sometimes it would be best if she just obeyed but she wanted to make her own mistakes.

She and the White rose were drastically different in that respect. He seemed to relish being tied down, being restrained, being controlled. Of all her knights she understood him the least. The way his mind worked did not make sense to a person like her. It disgusted her but also made her curious. Being the deviant she was, it made her want to push his boundaries and see just how far she could shove that line of his. What made him say enough? How tight was too tight? How hard was hard enough for him? Tenjoh-senpai... he made no sense to her at all.

He was the one that looked like an angel, dressed in white, but he was the most tainted of all the knights. Mutsuki might have been next in dark auras but at least he kept his open for the world to see rather than hiding it under a whitewashed front. She wanted to find his weakness, the man so seemingly obsessed with her. She failed to find it when they visited his mansion. What was he really? Could he really be as he seemed? He was a sadist, so in love with toying with others she could not understand the blatant need for control he also sported.

There had never been much hiding how he wanted her to control him, even provoking her just so she would strike him. The fact that he enjoyed it made her stop but that made him harder to control. With the threat of punishment nil in light of it being more a reward... what was she supposed to do with him? He liked to be struck, yelled at, demeaned... how was she supposed to deal with him? He needed to be straightened out, no doubt, but how could anyone do it? She had been able to understand all her other knights for the most part, but not him. He was a total mystery she could only claw the surface of.

She needed more than that. The surface with only glimpses at his inner self just did not cut it!

Setting the other three cards in their place, she glared at the white card, "What am I to do with you? Do you know how much trouble you are to deal with?"

He was everything she did not want. He made her stick out. He made her disgusted. He made her furious. He made her unable to feel comfortable or trust him. Yet she did care about him. If she did not care at all it would be much different, but she did.

If she could only get him to open up past all the weird things she might be able to reach that deeper part of him. She sometimes got the feeling he and Mutsuki were very alike, both trying to walk alone and hide whatever pains tormented them. There were times he just looked so sad and alone she could not even hope to reach over the chasm he had dug between himself and the world, but she wanted to at least try. How she would do that was the mystery.

The card touched her lips before she thought it through or had a proper idea what she intended to do about him in her head. It did not fully dawn on her that she summoned him until the white petals danced around her in the gusts of wind. Her mind screamed regret the second her eyes landed on him, his head slowly lifting to drill those cunning blue eyes into hers, commanding smile bared to her. His white hair swayed in the remaining motion of air, ornate Tengoku church uniform billowing around sleek limbs and body. To look at that perfectly crafted face, manicured hands, streamline build, and seeming suave innocence, he looked like the perfect knight- no, prince- but that was all on the surface.

"You called for me, Anis-sama?" His candied, smooth voice purred at her.

Her thin brows turned down and she motioned for him to sit beside her, "That's right. I want to talk."

"Oh? What have I done wrong?" He watched her expectantly, the picture of compliance as he remained in the bowed position, supported by only one knee.

"Nothing." She swung one leg gracefully over the other, wishing she hadn't when his eyes followed the move so closely, "If you want it put bluntly, I want to talk about you. A knight is supposed to be open with his Dominion and we both know you're not."

Jaw slack, he looked startled, even puzzlingly frightened before he schooled his expression, "That could never be true. I will always be your faithful dog, telling you anything you ask."

That was a lie, she knew.

He took a swift look around her room, "Aren't you going to summon the others? Mutsuki, perhaps?"

"Told you, this talk is between us." Her head snapped up, annoyed.

Her only warning to his sudden switch was the way those eyes turned lusty as he moved in beside her on the couch, hands already darting into her hair and reaching between her thighs. She squeaked in surprise as his lips opened, ready for a kiss. _Oh hell no!_ She wanted him to open up but not this much!

Vines jumped out around him, clamping down around him to slap his wrists together, forcing him to his knees on the floor as she stood to glare down at him. His lips twitched in a glint of an over indulgent and satisfied smile. Knowing he would be pleased, but unable to stop her hand as it shot out, she landed a loud slap to his cheek. His body bowed, eyes shutting as a hiss of enjoyment tumbled from him. This was a ploy to avoid the talk but she was too angry to think about that. Her blood pumped harder in her ears as she looked at him, even angrier that he did it all intentionally to get this. She had not struck him in quite a while and he undoubtedly missed it. The rage boiled in her so hard she could not help slapping him again; inflaming the same cheek she marked the first time out of what she wished could be spite rather than feeding his habit.

"You did that just to make me mad, didn't you?" Her little heart was thumping with anger she could not take out on him without making it worse, cocking her hips as she crossed her arms.

Deceptive servile eyes glanced up at her coyly, "I could never lie to you." he dropped his head in a sham of shame, "I could not help myself! It has been so long since you've touched me. You have been avoiding me as best you could after our beautiful moment of first awakening."

She snarled bitterly, "Does that give you the right to touch your dominion without permission?" Her tiny hand tossed silken hair off her shoulder angrily. "Getting cocky, aren't you, Tenjoh-sempai?"

He gave her that look, that cloying, innocent, obsequious face of a practiced liar, "You are so right! I deserve to be punished harshly for my impudence!"

"Cut the bull, you're not sorry. You're trying to avoid talking with me." She snapped to cut off any more of those words.

Blue eyes both hardened and softened at once, nodding as that mask slipped just a little, the way in usually did when he talked to Mutsuki. "No, I'm not sorry in the least. How could I be sorry when I only acted on what I wanted to do the most? I love it when you are angry with me since you look at only me."

She noticed how easily he brushed over her accusation that he was avoiding an honest talk, which only confirmed it. It baffled her. That tiny hand raked through her long hair with a vengeance.

The rose vines tightened their hold, snaking farther around his body, pulling his wrists close to his chest in a vulnerable pose, "Tell me the truth, is this really what you want? You want me angry? You want me to punish you that much?"

He was quiet, lips moving but not able to voice whatever words were on his tongue at first, "Y-yes, I want it, I want it, my... Dominion..."

Pleading for pain, how twisted! He was pitiful and disgusting, but he was being more real than normal. Was he opening up to her now that she had him bound? Did that make him more willing to be honest? Maybe it did. She had never been in the position herself but she heard passion and pleasure could lead to honesty, especially sexual. She might be able to use it.

Anis stared at his open, trembling lips, frowning before she allowed herself the pleasure of knowing what she could reduce him to, "Very well, Mitsuru," she gave a hard tug on the vines and watched his body arch, "just this one time, I will give you what you ask for. If this is really what you want as a reward for your service to me, your Domina will grant you a single wish."

Those blue eyes stared at her in saccharine wonder, cheeks flushing as he considered her statement, "Anis...sama..." he groaned as the vines squeezed him but grinned playfully, "If it's like this, I will only need this one wish to my life, to have the powerful attentions of my glorious Dominion focused singularly on me is all I would ever want."

Reaching out her slim fingers, she buried them in his silky hair, watching him flinch as she pulled his head back tight in an arc. The awkward stretching strain made it hard on muscles but more still for him to breathe, she could tell. "I won't be gentle with you then. Do you want me to be?" She hissed, smirking when he shuddered.

He tugged his head up enough to speak, "Please- don't! I want it all. Make me so soar tomorrow every step reminds me of your forceful hand, Anis-sama, please?" cheeks flushed deeper as he began to pant, "I want to be gloriously marked by you so I remember it forever!"

As always, she was struck with how twisted and sick he really was. She did not understand him at all! Out of the four, the one that was based in healing and defensive skills should have been the gentlest, right? With the other three their skills matched them well, but not Tenjoh-sempai. Exactly what made him like this? What had twisted him this much in his lifetime? But who was she to ask when she was seriously planning to give him what he was begging for? She was sick herself for even thinking about it, and worse for doing it. Tossing his head forward so hard his teeth clacked, she let go of his hair. Was he this skewed because of her, because he was tied to her? Or did she want to know the answer?

His voice was steeped in longing, "Anis-sa—"

A quick lash of her rose whip across his cheek silenced him, "No." Her voice was cold and strong, tainted by her sudden need not to be reminded she was herself, "Dominion."

He groaned out in a disturbingly contented sigh, "Dominion, my Domina..." anticipation was thick in his voice.

For now she would let Anis slip away into the corner of her mind and she would just be "Domina" only, asserting her power to see where it took her - no, to see where it would bring him in his twisted situation. He belonged to her and she had to understand him but even more acknowledge it. The white rose was what he was and she could not ignore it, she could only explore it and try to understand him.

"As you wish," her voice purred, snapping his arms over his head with the tangle of vines, surprised by the way he seemed to enjoy the change in position. She strolled slowly around him to take it all in and give herself a second to think. She reached out to rest her hand on the top of his head as she watched. He liked the contact if how he leaned into her was an indicator. This kind of thing was not a subject she knew absolutely nothing about but she had zero experience with anything from this world. She had never even given her first kiss away. What she knew of bedroom matters was all second or third-hand stories. Dominion was her title but that did not lead to knowing about "BDSM" or even normal sexual things. At her age a lot of girls had seen a man naked but she had never seen past a naked chest.

This could be her way to find out - use him to find out what men were really like - stuff magazines did not tell. She read articles on how to drive men wild just like every other teenage girl had but translating it over to reality seemed more challenging. He would know far more about this than she would but there was no way in hell she would ask. She would just go with whatever thought struck her and see how he reacted, then see how willing to talk it made him.

"I have a feeling," she began, trying to sound harsh, "you've been bad, my knight."

He whined, eyes closing when she jerked the vines higher to pull his body into a more straight position on his knees.

"Have you been bad?" Anis asked experimentally running her nails down his back.

"Yes, Dominion," he whispered, candy voice turning husky already.

Stepping to face him she drug her nails down the thinner material over his chest hard enough to hurt her hands.

Blue eyes went wide momentarily before falling near shut again, smirking hazily, "I've been so bad, please punish me!"

"What have you done wrong," she let a vine strike his backside unexpectedly, "my knight?" Anis watched him shudder; both eyes shut, and then swiped a finger along his jaw, grinning at how he jerked vaguely at the touch.

"I-I have not given myself over to my Dominion as fully as I should."

That was at least an admission, better than she normally got. "Why not? What do you dare hold back from me, your mistress?" She probed further, trying to stay in her roll. "Tell me everything and I might forgive you."

"I can't... tell you. I'm a wicked servant that deserves nothing more than a beating."

Anis growled, not sure if he was playing with her or if he was really refusing to answer, but either one mad her angry. She brought the whip down over his back repeatedly with quite a lot of force, enough to make him gasp. Her eyes darkened as she watched his pleasured face. He was starting to piss her off! He would talk if it was the last thing she did! No knight of hers was going to lie to her face! Those tiny hands reach for his buttons with a venomous force, ripping some of them in her haste to get that uniform away so she could do some real damage.

She lowered his arms, retracting the vines long enough to slip the coat off him, a little surprised he did not even try to resist. He must have seen her anger and he had to know he was going to be in pain when she let out that pent up rage, so he should be worried! Damn, he was annoying! He winced as the vines jerked his wrists over his head again, binding him tightly before another collided loudly against his exposed back. He arched against it, crying out as it hit him several times before she paused to grab hold of his chin, forcing him to look at her.

"You dare to refuse me, Mitsuru?"

He yelped when a lash came down over his stretched thighs, breathing her title.

Her small room was filled to the brim with the sounds of a whip as she alternated her strikes from him back, chest, thighs, and even his buttocks. The president cried out several times in choked pain. If this was draining her blood she did not notice, growing more livid by the second as he failed to seek and ending or offer information. At the start she had not been sure she could be cruel enough to play this part but the more annoyed she got to be the easier it was. Finally she stilled the whips to lean in at his eye level.

She jerked his head back with her fingers linked in his hair, trying to pick her words carefully, "Will you be a good boy and do what you know you should?"

"Dominion, I'm sorry!" his words were a breathy mess, "I want to be good for you but I can't, I'm such a wicked servant. I need to be taught a lesson and punished for my bad deeds!"

Her eyes narrowed - he was making her angrier! "If you're sorry, you will obey me."

She gave him an especially hard blow down the length of his back and buttocks, watching as lean, narrow hips trembled with the strike. At this rate she would never get him nervous enough to spill his secrets but she had to find a way to open him up! She had to loosen that tongue of his! What was he hiding? He always did seem to know everything. He was always the one with the answers. Damn it, what frightening things could he be holding back?

White lashes fluttered low and high cheekbones flushed with obvious arousal, shifting uncomfortably, only able to pant before her like a well educated whore, pliant and ready to accommodate his buyers desire. "Dominion, I've been so bad, you have no idea. Your knight adores his Mistress but he can't be good. I want to obey you... I do."

He was gearing to another refusal. No, he would tell her everything and that was the end! There was a growing bulge in his pants - and even with her little knowledge- she knew what that meant. He had to tell her and she had to find the right trigger for him to cave. Her small body sank down in front of him and she reached for the button of his pants. It snapped free in her hand and the zipper slid down with just a touch, forced open by how tightly they had been stretched - if he wore pants that were not so tight that would not be an issue for him. The normally controlled student council president gasped loudly as he watched her, muttering urgently about how she should not do that, but Anis paid no heed to his startled words.

"Be a good boy and wag your tail for me."

He panted harder, exactly like a dog, and rolled his hips from side to side like he had a tail to wag for her.

Her finger hooked over the waistband and she tugged his boxers down until she saw hair. So, boys had that too? She never knew since she had not seen anywhere close to this much of one. Papa never dressed in front of her. Her curiosity was bubbling up at the thought of seeing exactly what a man looked like under all this but she was not sure she had the courage to look. No, she could not do it... that was too much! Instead she would leave it covered. She could either slip her hand inside his pants or she could touch him through the boxers.

He was practically gasping, body shaking like he was going to freeze to death. Fine, she was already this far, she should at least touch him... under the cloth. She crawled closer and slid her hand down until she found smooth skin. Her fingers explored over it until she found the tip. It was a little wet there.

His eyes were huge, she could tell without looking full at his face. She could not look past his wide open mouth though or she would totally misplace her nerve. She ran the tips of her fingers over the top side and then the bottom side of his hard member. Until now she did not know a bunch of skin could be that hard. Now she got the jokes she heard other boys poke at each other with. She could feel a bulging vein there and he moaned without shame as she touched it. Gently her fingers stroked it up and down and listened to him moan and hum.

"Anis-sama! Ngghh, Aniiis-sama!" his voice was lower than she had heard it before.

Her fingers wrapped around his shaft and squeezed until he whined for her to stop, "I told you, Dominion."

"Forgive me, Dominion!" He gasped out, head falling to nearly rest on her shoulder as she resumed her gentle touching.

It was not long before the noises he made grew more desperate and his body jerked and twitched all on its own, hips rolling into her touch. He was falling to pieces in her hands and she had never known what it was like to reduce any man to this before, especially not one so prideful. He was so close to her ear so she heard every little gasp of enjoyment he made. Even when he tried to speak the words were muddled and clipped. His face was twisted into a look of pain but the cries were not ones that sounded pained at all. He was a literal mess of desire and need.

His eyes suddenly flew open, head jerking back, body bowing, a scream on his lips - Anis stared at him, a little confused and frightened as he shivered against the vines. Something wet splattered against her hand and she jerked it out in disgust, not sure if she hurt him and it was blood or what. He went limp, panting and whispering her title over and over again as she looked at the white gunk clinging to her fingers.

She wrinkled her nose in revulsion at the feeling - it felt like snot- and the strange smell. Yuck! Was that normally what happened? Magazines did not say anything about goo. She wiped her hand over the carpet several times to get rid of it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that... it just happened before I could stop myself." His composure was coming back.

"Doesn't matter." She muttered as she stood up, watching him carefully, "Anyway, was that good enough to be your wish?" Not that she would touch him again even if it wasn't.

"Yes, oh gods, yes!" Mitsuru sounded husky, but even more than that, honest.

Anis watched him as his breathing slowly evened out. He never looked up though but she was glad. Now that it was done it felt awkward and strange. She felt a little dirty for some reason but... they had not _really_ done anything... had they? What had she actually done just now? She might have to read something to find out because she would never ask anyone. In fact she never planned to tell _anyone_ about this!

She flinched when he moved, kind of wishing he wouldn't. Slowly, he looked up at her, eyes tired but very strangely affectionate. She had never seen that expression on him in all the time she had known him, it was different from those sickly sweet looks he normally gave her. He looked vulnerable - enough that she nearly covered his eyes to avoid seeing it- but there was also a disturbingly happy shine, and a little too possessively victorious glint. He looked strangely at her, a little more adoring than normal, and that was unsettling. Whatever he had felt during this was not at all shared by her, but he seemed to notice that quickly and a coldness laced into his eyes. There was no question, she could see the vulnerability leave his eyes in seconds, and knew he was realizing she had never done anything like this with the others regardless of what it meant to her to do it. The usual smugness was there faster than she could blink and it left her mind spinning to try to understand how quickly he could shift. Chameleon, that's what he was.

The vines vanished as she released them to allow him to straighten his clothes. The way he moved now was again graceful rather than the frantic movements he displayed moments before. She watched him in total silence, regretting everything she had just done. The distance between them felt broader than it had before, but smaller now that they each knew they shared a secret. The distance was the most obvious thing right now. Maybe it was there because he could see this encounter, whatever it was, had not made her feel even one thing. His emotions had been spilling out but she had only been an observer, not a part of them.

"Is it wrong..." for the first time since she had known him, he sounded raw and real, "to have desires? To want you?" He looked at her expectantly, like he was really asking. "I..." whatever he was going to say was left to die on his lips, stopped by his own sense of pride.

"Yes, because not everything belongs to you, contrary to what you've been told before." Her eyes diverted, not able to look at him when he stared at her that way. "I do not and never will belong to anyone, so don't you or anyone else try to change that..." Her breath was a heavy sigh, "Besides, if I'm not mistaken, I just gave you what you said you desired, unless you were lying about wanting it."

Tentative fingers took her hand, stroking gently, "You did give me my desires, granting me, your humble knight more happiness than I deserve... But... I still want more," the warm flesh of his cheek pressed to her cold fingers, "I need more, my Dominion."

There were so many mean answers swirling in her head but she said none of them for once, not able to tell as she stared at the crown of his head if this was the real Tenjoh's words or just manufactured, "One step at a time." She pulled her hand away, tugging his chin up to smile down at him, "If I'm feeling charitable, I might beat you again, we'll see."

A playfully seductive smile parted those full lips but a sad twinge hovered in his eyes. She did not like that look but she had run out of ideas on what to do with him for now. Interrogating him felt wrong now even though that had been her plan. She could ask him questions later. Given time, she could think about it more carefully and decide how to proceed and how to handle him. For now, she rubbed her thumb over his cheek as she lifted his white card to her lips and let him vanish in a flurry of petals.

* * *

**AN:** It's UA, never happened in the manga, it's just a what if. And yeah, I know, they're distantly related somewhere down the line so it makes this twisted but look at the shit I give. LOL! This is bondage and all that, obviously, but what else would it be given it's the white rose? I like dominant female characters, can't help it. I find the switch up interesting when it's counter norm. I feel sorry for him after volume 9. She really did shut him out in a way she did not even do with Kaede. She related to all the others but never to him. All the boys have it rough in this series.

And no, I don't think this would cause an awakening because the feelings were all one sided, and not on her end. It is getting "close" to her knight but also not really when she felt nothing at all past curiosity. Unless it's strangely forced like in the first of vol. 9, it has to be a two way connection, from what I understand of it.


End file.
